New CEO Faison likes Pulse’s beat

After three years on the sidelines, Ralph Faison is happy to be back in the CEO game.

Faison was president, CEO and a director of Andrew Corp. when it was bought by CommScope Inc. in December 2007 for $2.6 billion. Since then, he has been doing some private investing, working for charities, and looking for his next opportunity to run a company.

“I looked for the types of companies that have survived and weathered the storm [and] that have strong promise of … growth at both revenue and profitability,” he said.

His looking days ended Wednesday morning when Pulse Electronics Corp., the Trevose electronic-components maker, announced he had agreed to become its president, CEO and a member of its board of directors.

Andrew, and Celiant Corp., which Faison ran until it was bought by Andrew, both make telecommunications products and systems. Pulse makes components that go into those types of products and systems, so Faison said, it’s similar to his previous employers, “just [in] a different part of the supply chain.”

Pulse is a different company than it was when Faison entered the job market. Back in those days, it was called Technitrol Inc. and had two divisions — Pulse and AMI Doduco, which made electrical contacts. It divested itself of the last bits of AMI Doduco last September and changed its name to Pulse two months later.

Pulse’s tightened focus is one reason Faison thinks the company is primed for growth. Another is the potential of the markets into which it sells its components.

“Across the board, all the markets that we serve show nice growth patterns and we’re optimistic about our ability to capture our fair share of that,” he said.

One thing that made Faison attractive to Pulse was his experience with telecommunications products makers.

“One of our primary product groups, and also one that has the most challenges in the short, immediate term is our wireless … and antenna [business],” said Drew Moyer, Pulse’s chief financial officer, who had been serving as the company’s interim CEO prior to Faison’s appointment.

“Ralph’s probably deepest area of expertise is in the wireless space, so we really are happy to have him get in and get his hands dirty in that area,” Moyer said.

In a note written Wednesday, Michael Gallo, an analyst with Albany, N.Y. investment bank CL King & Associates Inc., said hiring Faison was “a positive move,” as “Pulse either needs to get bigger or sell itself and [Faison] has a strong track record in both areas.”

Pulse may have the opportunity to sell itself.

Last week, it said it had received a letter from Bel Fuse Inc., a Jersey City, N.J., electronics maker that rebuffed an attempt by Pulse, then Technitrol, to buy it in 2007.

In the letter, Bel Fuse said it intended to nominate three candidates for election to Pulse’s board of directors this year. And the letter, Pulse said, followed other communications in which Bel Fuse said it was interested in restarting talks about combining with Pulse.

Faison doesn’t seem to return Bel Fuse’s interest.

“I didn’t come here looking for a transaction,” he said. “I have three children … about to go into high school so my move will be a permanent one from my perspective.”